Breaking Bad creator to speak at Penn

SPEC Connaissance and SPEC Film Society are hosting Vince Gilligan on April 1

While you may not learn how to cook up meth, you will have the opportunity to learn more about Gilligan and his path to success. The Connaissance and Film Society subcommittees of the Social Planning and Events Committee are teaming up to host Gilligan on April 1 at 8 p.m. in Irvine Auditorium.

The event will be a moderated panel discussion led by Marcia Ferguson, program director of the Theater Arts Program at the Annenberg Center, and will be followed by a student question and answer period.

“We were interested in bringing someone in film and wanted to bring substantial discourse to campus,” College junior and Connaissance director Gabriel Jimenez said. “So it’s a perfect collaboration between our two committees.”

Gilligan earned a degree in film production from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Years before venturing out on his own, Gilligan joined Fox’s “The X-Files” in 1995 and became the executive producer for the show in 1997.

“Breaking Bad,” which premiered in 2008, has received critical acclaim. Over the years, it has been nominated for numerous awards including the Golden Globes, The Writer’s Guild and People’s Choice Awards. The show was nominated for more than 20 Emmy Awards and won seven throughout its course.

“Breaking Bad” entered the 2014 Guinness World Records as the “Highest Rated TV Series” based on MetaCritic.com’s metascore of 99 out of 100. Over 10 million people viewed the series’ finale.

The show appeals to college students who are learning how to make it in the real world, Wharton junior and SPEC Film Society director Andres Martinez said.

Jimenez mentioned the importance of being aware of student interest and opinions through surveys. “We’re interested in looking at people who would have great pull on campus and students would be interested in,” he said. “We also want a speaker who is dynamic and Vince is really special in a way that he’s a writer, he’s a director, a producer.”

College sophomore John Meng was excited to hear that Gilligan will be on campus. “Whoa, this news is crazy. It kicks like a mule with its balls wrapped in duct tape,” he said in reference to the show.